SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - A tour bus swerved to avoid an approaching truck and tumbled 300 feet down a mountainside in northern Chile, killing 12 American tourists and injuring two others, U.S. and Chilean officials said.

Two Chileans also were hospitalized, said Juan Carlos Poli, a city hall spokesman in the Pacific port city of Arica.

The tourists were returning to Celebrity Cruises' ship Millennium from an excursion to Lauca National Park when the bus plunged off the rugged highway Wednesday near Arica, 1,250 miles north of Santiago, he said.

Poli said the bus, which had a capacity of 16 passengers, "was totally destroyed."

Poli also said the injured Americans were "conscious and have been able to talk to doctors," although he added their were concerns because of their age.

The victims were all in their 60s and 70s, authorities said.

Celebrity Cruises President Dan Hanrahan told reporters in Miami the victims were part of a 64-member B'nai B'rith group on vacation, but their identities were not being released "out of respect for the families."

Of the injured tourists, one broke a leg and the other broke a hand, said Mauricio Lynn of Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. Both men were in stable condition but were being observed at a hospital as a precaution.

U.S. Embassy spokesman John Vance said consular officers were being sent to Arica.

The Millennium was docked in Arica. It had been scheduled to leave for Peru early yesterday, but the departure was delayed until the evening to allow guests to make other arrangements if they wished, Hanrahan said. The ship was carrying 1,536 guests and 920 crew members.

The accident occurred 25 miles northeast of Arica on the road leading deep into the high Andes Mountains, connecting the coast with the Bolivian capital of La Paz.

The cruise line said it was offering to fly family members of victims to Chile and sending a special assistance team to the ship to help its guests and crew.